Mathematics Poem

Introduction

The poem looks at numbers in a humorous manner.  Place a number on the chalkboard with an exaggerated amount of zeros( a number that does not actually exist) and tell children to guess the number.  After reading the poem, inform children the number does not exist.

Whats  A Googol?

A TEN is your toes

And a TEN is your fingers.

A HUNDRED's a choir

Ten rows with ten singers.

A THOUSAND is daffodils,

Yellow and pretty.

A MILLION is people

Who live in a city.

A BILLION is snowflakes

That cover the ground.

A TRILLION is stars

UP above, all around.

BUT

A GOOGOL's a googol.

A googol is great!

It has one hundred zeros,

Not seven or eight.

A googol's enormous:

It's more than the stars,

It's more than the snowflakes,

Or the distance to Mars.

A googol's a number

That youll never count.

Youll never discover

A googol amount

So why have a googol?

A googol is fun.

Can you imagine

A googol of gum,

A googol of polka dots,

A googol of noodles,

A googol of pizza,

A googol of poodles?

A googols a number

As huge as can be.

And though it is big,

It's not infinity.

Extension

After telling children that the number you wrote on the chalkboard does not exist, play a numbers game.  Call out various numbers and have children guess the amount of zeros in each number.